Ahmedabad recently threw its hat into the ring to become India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City. It’s also home to some of the country’s brightest young minds at world-class institutions like IIM-A and NID, established by the city’s first families – the Sarabhais, the Lalbhais, the Mangaldases – who built a flourishing textile industry here at the turn of the last century. But in recent years, the city’s progressive fabric has slowly been changing, putting it in the midst of an economic upswing, and a more boisterous political climate. Over chaas and hors d’oeuvres at the Hyatt Regency, we asked four gentlemen – actor, dancer and multimedia artist Revanta Sarabhai; owner of the iconic haveli-turned-hotel House of MG Abhay Mangaldas; co-founder of education start-up Teal Labs Deepanshu Arora; and Sekhar Mukherjee, NID professor and founder of its popular Chitrakatha animation festival – about how the city has transformed itself, and what Gujarati pride means today.

What’s hot in Ahmedabad right now?

Sarabhai: Quite a lot actually. There’s a renewed interest in restoring our architectural heritage, especially the old havelis. So they’ll have the old façades, but contemporary interiors, and you can rent some of them via Airbnb. The number of intimate venues for experimental theatre is growing, and cafés are doubling up as arts and performance spaces. There’s Kabir Thakur’s Scrap-Yard, which is run out of the backyard of a house, as well as theatre company Ouroboros, run by Chirag Modi, which is inside a mall.

Are the plays usually performed in English?

Sarabhai: It’s a mix of Hindi and Gujarati plays. Gujarati theatre was pretty cutting-edge in the Fifties and Sixties, at par with Marathi theatre. Then the scene became more commercial, with stereotypical scripts and slapstick comedy. Now, we’re seeing a resurgence of satire, political theatre, Gujarati adaptations of Brecht and Chekhov. There’s also the 22-year-old Darpana Academy, for dance and theatre, where we bring down international performers. We’re renovating the space and will reopen around October/November. There’s also been a strong resurgence of Gujarati film in the last five years.

I’ve heard the hottest ticket in town is a pass for the NID garba festival during Navratri.

Mukherjee: Especially for the IIM boys.

Sarabhai: You should also visit during Uttarayan, the annual kite-flying festival, in January. I remember seeing tournaments as a child, with professional kite flyers who’d come from around the world. It’s more commercial now, but still fun. It’s a great time to go terrace-hopping. Abhay, for example, throws a wonderful rooftop party.

People from Mumbai used to celebrate New Year’s Eve here. The farmhouse bashes are legendary – great weather, great DJs, booze on the DL. But the nightlife now seems to centre around street food.

Mangaldas: Khau Galli at Manek Chowk, which opens at midnight, has a great vibe – much nicer than what you’ll find at a fancy restaurant.

Arora: There’s a great culture of eating out here. Law Garden has several food trucks, as does SG Highway. And they all do roaring business. When it comes to innovating with vegetarian food, Ahmedabad is the place to be.

Mukherjee: But if you’re non-vegetarian, head to Bhatiyar Galli in the Old City at night for kebabs and fried fish; in the morning, there’s a fish market, with some of the best quality sea fish and dry fish in the country.

Mangaldas: The people who run the food stalls at Bhatiyar Galli are the second or third generation of cooks of the badshahs’courts.

What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the city in the last decade?

Mukherjee: When I came to Ahmedabad as a student in 1992, I remember people being easy-going, one felt welcome. It was a peaceful city, but there’s a kind of aggression in people’s body language now that’s quite out of character.

Ahmedabad seems to have a lot of contradictions: It has a genuinely pacifist spirit, but with an intolerant streak – for example, when it comes to eating meat. Is it a liberal city, or conservative, with a few liberal bubbles in IIM, NID, etc?

Arora: Professionally, there’s a lot of innovation and risk-taking. But in the personal realm, I find Gujaratis very conservative.

Sarabhai: Including the younger generation. There’s a fair amount of hypocrisy. You won’t eat meat at home, but you’ll eat it outside.

With the ascendancy of Narendra Modi, the Ambanis, the Adanis and the like, is there a resurgence of Gujarati pride?

Sarabhai: I find it quite hollow. There’s this sentiment of ‘Ame Gujarati’, but most parents don’t care about their kids learning the language. When it comes down to a practical level, whether it’s about language or art, culture or film, there’s a sense of, “Bombay nu natak saru hashe, Amdavad nu natak na joiye.” [“This play is from Bombay, it’s better than this play from Ahmedabad”].

Mangaldas: People speak Hindi now when you go into a shop. Gujarati people don’t speak Gujarati. Personally, I feel nostalgic for the innocence Ahmedabad once had, a pride in being Amdavadi, which came from our cultural legacy and from having role models such as Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi. A few families – known as the Mahajans – shaped that legacy. But ask the guy on the road [about any of this], and he’s going to be completely removed from it.

Arora: Actually, as an outsider, I think people in Ahmedabad are still rooted in their heritage and legacy – much more so than in other cities.

Mangaldas: Perhaps that’s true. I feel the city is becoming more aspirational, but also more wannabe. I want to be recognised for where I come from, not for the watch or shoes I’m wearing or the car I’m driving.

Sarabhai: I think the difference is that with the so-called old money here, the wealth was almost incidental; there was a drive to further the city, to give back to society. Having money was considered a privilege, as well as a responsibility. They saw themselves as custodians – you didn’t ‘own’, you were a custodian of something. Whereas, with new money, I think, the end goal is to make money.

What is Ahmedabad going to be known for in the near future?

Arora: I think the city will continue to show the way in education.

Mangaldas: I hope Ahmedabad will be one of the top cities in terms of urban planning. There’s a huge Riverfront Project underway, a ‘MYBYK’ project to encourage people to use cycles.

Mukherjee: I’d like to see more interaction between the city and its institutions. There’s so much potential. I remember visiting Angoulême in France, known as the home of the comic strip, and seeing these amazing comics painted on several buildings. I would love to see something like that here. NID hosts a fantastic National Design Business Incubator, which brings together design and entrepreneurship. The Indian Railways has also set up a lab at NID.